Top 5 Best Christmas Themed Games For The Holidays (No. 2)

Seasons Greetings fellow Otaku & Metalheads?

To be honest, I’m not feeling the Christmas spirit as much this year as I have prior years. With you-know-who getting elected, not to mention how 2024 has been for me, things aren’t as rosy or bright in my life right now. None the less, I need to get out one last post for this year, and what better subject matter to tackle than Christmas games! I did this lists last year for the first time, and I thought it would be nice to journey back into that realm & see what could be brought up to show off. The choices I picked out for this year are certainly a more interesting bunch, but they’ll all make you go ho-ho-ho by the end. With that out of the way, here are the top 5 best Christmas themed games for the holidays.....no. 2!

5) Jazz Jackrabbit: Holiday Hare 1995 (Video)

Unlike the original Holiday Hare I talked about last year, I didn’t grow up with Jazz’s second travels into the seasonal snow. It wasn’t until 2009 when I downloaded it to play using a DOS emulator, and for whatever reason I wasn’t as big of a fan of it as I was the first Holiday Hare. That’s not to say it isn’t fun, cause it is! Candion & Bloxonius are cute little world that are just brimming with Christmas cheer, with the former having candy be the building blocks of the place itself, and the latter being made completely out of Lego. The music for both planets was great as well, as it makes your cheeks very rosy, and you just feel so warm inside as they play. For whatever reason though, Holiday Hare 1995 didn’t grip me as hard as it’s predecessor, yet I still had fun regardless. If you were a big fan of Holiday Hare 1994, then you’re going to like this.

4) Tattletale (Video)

Underrated! That’s what I think of one of my gaming honorable mentions from 2017. It came to my attention around the middle of January of that year, when Markiplier played through the whole thing. Either not long after his playthrough, or during the Black Friday sale on Steam in 2017 (Might have been during the sale), I decided to pick it up, and I was pleasantly surprised as just how genuinely scary it was. Sure, the idea of killer Furby knock-offs set against the lead-up to Christmas day is incredibly absurd, and only one of said knock-offs is actually trying to kill you, but there’s a surprising amount of tension as the game progresses. Christmas Eve is perhaps the most intense of the levels, as the lone killer knock-off is on top of their killing game. In a twist, if you have been collected all of the little pick-ups throughout each level, then you’ll get a nice ending. If not, then.....I think you know. It even had free DLC, which expanded upon the slim story in interesting ways, and added some unique scares of it’s own. Despite it’s sadly obscured nature nowadays, Tattletale is genuinely a fun time. It doesn’t cost much ($4.99 on Steam), goes by rather quick, and you might not play through it a bunch of times, but it’s a neat little experience to go through at least once.

3) A Very Postal Christmas (Video)

So, true story. This second list was a little tougher to make when compared to last year, as I found it harder to find Christmas themed games to put on this list. This Postal 2 mod was one I knew of since 2018 when I first discovered Civvie 11, and it’s one I’ve never played. Hell, I never played the base Postal 2 to be honest, as it’s rather janky nature leaves a bit desired. Still, this mod is just a goofy treat, and while you could say that it’s connections to the holiday season is surface level in many places, it does know when to use it. Set against the backdrop of the over-the-top violence & political satire that would come to define the rest of the franchise, A Very Postal Christmas is the digital equivalent of seasonal fluff. If you like your Christmas tree splattered with blood, A Very Postal Christmas will slathered it in the stuff!

2) Alone In The Dark 2 (Video)

If the previous title bent the rules when it comes to what could be considered a Christmas game, then the second adventure of Edward Carnby almost shatters it. We kind of got a preview of this with Jack In The Dark, but AITD2 definitely uses the Christmas season more.....barely. Taking place on Christmas Eve 1924, it’s up to the private investigator to rescue Grace Saunders from a band of mobsters that aren’t quite what they seem to be. Once you get inside their hideout, there’s traces of the holiday season in many places. At one point, you even don a Santa Claus outfit to sneak past some mobsters, and use a bulb from a tree to solve a simple puzzle! Again, Alone In The Dark 2 almost breaks the definition of what a Christmas Game is, but it’s hard to say that it’s not trying!

1) Elf Bowling (Video)

Talk about a nostalgia blast!

I think even people who aren’t really gamers sure as hell know about this release at the dawn of the new millennium. It had gotten so popular that even the various news outlets at the time talked about it, and it had spread to so many different handheld consoles as well. It’s ironic that Elf Bowling got as popular as it did, when at the end of the day it’s a pretty simple flash bowling game. Coupled with a goofy story (The elves just wanted to be treated fairly, and Santa has set them up as pins to punish them), the gameplay is uncomplicated to the 10th degree, yet it’s incredibly addicting as well. Alongside the base bowling, there’s occasional hazards that will screw up your shots, and other little things you might miss if you’re not paying attention. Even though it’s not the most amazing game by any means, it’s hard not to see why it got as incredibly popular as it did so quickly. A relic of a forgotten time everyone should play.

And those were 5 more Christmas themed games for the Holidays. Perhaps a more interesting bunch of titles when compared to last year, they’re certainly a lot of fun. So with that, 2024 closes here on the Heavy Metal Otaku blog, and we have 4 years of incoming hell to slog through. See you all on the first of next year, when I have a special announcement to make. Until then, have a great Christmas or whatever seasonal holiday you celebrate! Take care.



***
If you’re curious about last year’s list, click on the link below:

Top 5 Best Christmas Themed Games For The Holidays